the scientists of sixty symbols explain all of this faster-than-the-speed-of-light business....
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
daddy long legs
he has a point...
but i remember when my tiny niece was obsessed with chasing these harmless spiders around the yard and her way of saying "addy ong wegs" (or something) was absolutely adorable!
but i remember when my tiny niece was obsessed with chasing these harmless spiders around the yard and her way of saying "addy ong wegs" (or something) was absolutely adorable!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
a simple reminder
it's almost easy to forget where i am after a day of sitting at a desk with my laptop thinking about the same type of universe-related questions that i think about most days.
but then i get up to use the bathroom and find squatting toilets waiting for me. oh right, still in asia!
most toilets stalls dont provide handles...
many places offer both the squatting option and the western-style toilet... just remember not to flush the toilet paper!
so far this trip reminds me of something my good friend said recently about adjusting to having a new baby and a toddler in her family:
"it’s a question of managing all the moving parts and making sure everyone eats, sleeps and poops in the appropriate places."
only i just have to look after myself. props to all you parents!
ps. today i'm off to the western social media deadzone of mainland china, during their national holidays, which should be a sufficiently crazy time to visit beijing! talk to you from hong kong next week...
but then i get up to use the bathroom and find squatting toilets waiting for me. oh right, still in asia!
most toilets stalls dont provide handles...
many places offer both the squatting option and the western-style toilet... just remember not to flush the toilet paper!
so far this trip reminds me of something my good friend said recently about adjusting to having a new baby and a toddler in her family:
"it’s a question of managing all the moving parts and making sure everyone eats, sleeps and poops in the appropriate places."
only i just have to look after myself. props to all you parents!
ps. today i'm off to the western social media deadzone of mainland china, during their national holidays, which should be a sufficiently crazy time to visit beijing! talk to you from hong kong next week...
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
coastal climbing
i managed to get out of the city over the weekend and up to taiwan's northern coast. i went with some seasoned rock climbers who, thankfully, let me borrow their equipment! i'm not a very strong climber, but it was a lot of fun and the views from high up the rock face were worth the effort!
i also walked around a bit and found a family fishing. overall, the day was lovely - even when it started really raining late in the afternoon!
i also walked around a bit and found a family fishing. overall, the day was lovely - even when it started really raining late in the afternoon!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
a talk, a recital and dumplings
the populations of taiwan and australia are roughly equal at 23 million people, yet taiwan is an island 500 km (310 mi) long and 200km across, while mainland australia is over 7.5 million square kilometers! taiwan has roughly 200 professional astronomers compared to australia's 500.
after my talk yesterday, there was a reception with an array of snacks set out to welcome a mexican concert pianist who gave an amazing piano recital! the event was to honor mexican and tawainese relations as they move forward to build a telescope in mexico with the aim of detecting small (~1 km diameter) objects in the Kuiper Belt at the edge of our solar system.
listening to piano music in a lovely recital hall is now officially my favorite way to relax after giving a talk.
my hosts then took me out to dinner to a very famous dumpling restaurant in taipei city. there were many people standing outside waiting and i thought we would never get into the tiny place, but they took our table of six up and up and up 5 flights of stairs to a room with a large table!
the food was incredible! some of the steamed dumplings actually had soup inside so they morphed their shape as i picked them up with my chopsticks, dipped them in the vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger mixture, and placed them on my spoon to cool. the bite was an explosion of goodness.
i was so entranced by the textures and flavours of the food and the scientific conversation, that i forgot to take any photos! i realized this at the end of the meal and so my hosts insisted on ordering another round of red bean dessert buns so they could take this photo for me ;)
after my talk yesterday, there was a reception with an array of snacks set out to welcome a mexican concert pianist who gave an amazing piano recital! the event was to honor mexican and tawainese relations as they move forward to build a telescope in mexico with the aim of detecting small (~1 km diameter) objects in the Kuiper Belt at the edge of our solar system.
listening to piano music in a lovely recital hall is now officially my favorite way to relax after giving a talk.
my hosts then took me out to dinner to a very famous dumpling restaurant in taipei city. there were many people standing outside waiting and i thought we would never get into the tiny place, but they took our table of six up and up and up 5 flights of stairs to a room with a large table!
the food was incredible! some of the steamed dumplings actually had soup inside so they morphed their shape as i picked them up with my chopsticks, dipped them in the vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger mixture, and placed them on my spoon to cool. the bite was an explosion of goodness.
i was so entranced by the textures and flavours of the food and the scientific conversation, that i forgot to take any photos! i realized this at the end of the meal and so my hosts insisted on ordering another round of red bean dessert buns so they could take this photo for me ;)
Friday, September 23, 2011
some food in taiwan
anyone living in australia during the last ~year knows how exorbitantly priced bananas have been since the floods hit queensland and wiped out most of the crops.
anyone who knows me reasonably well understands how devastated i have been about this unfortunate occurrence! but despite my love of bananas, i refuse to pay $15 to $20 AUD per kilo (or even more) for this delicious fruit.
now i hope everyone can appreciate just how big my eyes must have grown today at lunch with astronomers in taiwan, when i was finishing my bowl of noodles and the woman placed on our table one tasty, tiny, bright yellow, gorgeous looking banana for each of us!!
maybe it wasnt the best early impression to make on the professionals here, but i dont really care, because i was incredibly excited. and after hearing the sad story of the floods, i was offered another banana, which i happily accepted!
the other dessert offering was a bowl of hard candies. i took two that looked peculiarly interesting, pictured above. one was corn flavoured, which didnt seem quite as odd as the apparently goldfish flavoured sweetie. the fish one was colored pink and surprisingly tasted quite good! i ate it first in case it was horrid and i needed to cover the flavour. this was a mistake, because the brown colored "cornee" thing was absolutely awful! i cannot do any more justice to the flavour other than to say that i had to spit it out.
in other food news: sushi-flavoured pringles!?!
ps. there were probably supposed to be at least 10 hyphens in the post, but i gave up trying to remember the rules and just removed them all! please forgive me (or teach me...).
anyone who knows me reasonably well understands how devastated i have been about this unfortunate occurrence! but despite my love of bananas, i refuse to pay $15 to $20 AUD per kilo (or even more) for this delicious fruit.
now i hope everyone can appreciate just how big my eyes must have grown today at lunch with astronomers in taiwan, when i was finishing my bowl of noodles and the woman placed on our table one tasty, tiny, bright yellow, gorgeous looking banana for each of us!!
maybe it wasnt the best early impression to make on the professionals here, but i dont really care, because i was incredibly excited. and after hearing the sad story of the floods, i was offered another banana, which i happily accepted!
the other dessert offering was a bowl of hard candies. i took two that looked peculiarly interesting, pictured above. one was corn flavoured, which didnt seem quite as odd as the apparently goldfish flavoured sweetie. the fish one was colored pink and surprisingly tasted quite good! i ate it first in case it was horrid and i needed to cover the flavour. this was a mistake, because the brown colored "cornee" thing was absolutely awful! i cannot do any more justice to the flavour other than to say that i had to spit it out.
in other food news: sushi-flavoured pringles!?!
ps. there were probably supposed to be at least 10 hyphens in the post, but i gave up trying to remember the rules and just removed them all! please forgive me (or teach me...).
Thursday, September 22, 2011
light reading
successfully made it to taipei! it has the old familiar smell of asian cities in the summer: sewage.
the trip was mostly uneventful, but i managed to get in a bit of light reading on the plane ;)
off to work today - give my first talk tomorrow. the extragalactic astronomy community in taiwan is rather small, but quite active, and apparently they will all be at my talk tomorrow! looking forward to it.
the trip was mostly uneventful, but i managed to get in a bit of light reading on the plane ;)
off to work today - give my first talk tomorrow. the extragalactic astronomy community in taiwan is rather small, but quite active, and apparently they will all be at my talk tomorrow! looking forward to it.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
asian research trip
tomorrow i start another extended research tour - this time around asia! i'm giving 9 talks at nine different institutions in 5 countries. in my experience asian countries are exhausting to travel in, mostly because i have no intuition whatsoever for the languages and outside of big cities, there is not much english spoken or written.
so i've been getting myself mentally ready for this trip by doing some research about the different cultures i will be visiting: taiwan, china (beijing), hong kong, south korea, japan.
i went from feeling very excited a few weeks ago, to being a bit anxious over the last week. now my talks are ready, my research is at a relatively settled state, i have ideas to discuss, and i'm *really* excited again! i cant wait... to eat...! :)
but i still have to pack :( i want to travel, but i dont want to pack. i want it to be that moment where i sit on the plane and wonder what movie i will watch.
anyway, i should get on with the packing. hopefully i'll be able to post regularly over the next 5 weeks and fill you in with stories and photos.
more soon!
so i've been getting myself mentally ready for this trip by doing some research about the different cultures i will be visiting: taiwan, china (beijing), hong kong, south korea, japan.
i went from feeling very excited a few weeks ago, to being a bit anxious over the last week. now my talks are ready, my research is at a relatively settled state, i have ideas to discuss, and i'm *really* excited again! i cant wait... to eat...! :)
but i still have to pack :( i want to travel, but i dont want to pack. i want it to be that moment where i sit on the plane and wonder what movie i will watch.
anyway, i should get on with the packing. hopefully i'll be able to post regularly over the next 5 weeks and fill you in with stories and photos.
more soon!
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